Research and development
Research and development have an extremely high priority at HiTHIUM, because they are the basis for the attractiveness, safety and competitiveness of HiTHIUM products. For this reason, HiTHIUM invests heavily in research and development.
In total, more than 1.000 employees work in four
company-owned research institutes
The institutes each have their own area of focus, all essential to achieving HiTHIUM quality. These include basic research, optimisation of cell technologies and of the materials used, the development of proprietary control hardware and software, and the development and optimisation of manufacturing processes and technology.
Goals
Even though our research and development results serve more than one purpose, HiTHIUM’s research efforts can be assigned to concrete goals. These goals always serve the users of HiTHIUM products and offer them specific advantages.
1. Maximum safety
- Current collector safety technology – thin-film coating of the current collector for increased intrinsic safety of the battery
- System safety technology – BMS and multi-stage active fire protection concept
2. Maximum cost reduction
- LFP Regeneration Technology – LFP can regenerate itself
- NMP distillation technology – cost reduction and simplified recycling
- Innovative enclosure production – cost reduction and improved sealing
3. Maximum lifetime
- SEI stabilisation technology
- Coating of the anode in a thin-film process
- Modification of the anode with a technology for active and sustained release of lithium ions
In the line with all objectives, research into suitable materials and the continuous further development of specially developed or optimised manufacturing technologies is also being carried out.
Research focus
To achieve the aforementioned R&D goals, HiTHIUM systematically focuses its efforts on several key areas.
- Cell chemistry – optimisation, further development and new development of the cell’s core materials.
- Cell design – using HiTHIUM’s cell chemistry toolbox to improve safety and reliability.
- Battery design – optimising cell integration for high energy density, wide temperature range, durability, safety and reliability.
- Intelligent manufacturing – HiTHIUM’s production system is one of the most advanced in the industry and is continuously evolving along with its processes.
- Recycling – Further development of the HiTHIUM recycling process with the aim of a closed-loop process.
- Cell optimisation – further and new development of electrode materials in terms of cost reduction and increased safety.